Carlos
The silence after the battle was deafening. The sounds of gunfire and chaos had faded, replaced with the heavy scent of smoke and the lingering echoes of destruction. My heart was still pounding in my chest as I looked over the battlefield, the bodies of my men and the enemy strewn across the ground. It was a victory, but at what cost?
I had survived. We had survived. But the damage had been done. The empire I had spent years building had been shaken to its core. The threat was far from over, but for the moment, I needed to breathe. To collect my thoughts.
Heer was beside me, her presence like a lifeline in the middle of the storm. She hadn't backed down, hadn't run, and I couldn't help but admire her for that. But as I looked at her, I couldn't shake the guilt that gnawed at me. She shouldn't have been here. This world—my world—was too dangerous for someone like her. I had sworn to protect her, but instead, I had dragged her into the heart of the chaos.
"Carlos," Heer whispered, her voice soft but steady. "Are you alright?"
I nodded, but it felt like a lie. I wasn't alright. I was far from it. There were too many loose ends, too many unknowns. But the one thing I knew for certain was that I couldn't lose her. Not like this. Not when we had finally started to understand each other.
I turned to her, my voice hoarse with emotion. "You shouldn't have been here, Heer. It's too dangerous."
She shook her head, her eyes fierce. "I'm not afraid. I'm with you, Carlos. You don't get to push me away anymore."
Her words hit me harder than I expected. I had been trying to protect her, but in doing so, I had only pushed her further away. I had made her feel small, like she didn't matter in the world I lived in. But she did. She mattered more than anything else.
"I'm sorry," I muttered, my voice barely a whisper. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"You didn't," she replied, her hand resting gently on mine. "But you need to stop treating me like I can't handle this. I'm stronger than you think."
Heer
The aftermath of the battle was nothing like I had imagined. The air was thick with tension, the aftermath of violence hanging in every corner of the mansion. Carlos stood before me, his body tense, his jaw clenched. He was a man at war—always on edge, always calculating. But now, in the quiet aftermath, there was something broken in him. Something that wasn't there before.
I couldn't just stand by and watch him drown in his guilt. He had survived the attack, but the real battle was what was going on inside his head. He was a king without a crown, fighting not just for power, but for survival. And I was right there beside him. I wouldn't leave him.
"You don't have to do this alone, Carlos," I said softly, my heart aching for him. "Whatever happens next, we'll face it together."
His eyes met mine, and for the briefest of moments, I saw the vulnerability that he always tried to hide. It was the first time he had let me in—truly let me in—and it broke me.
"You've already given me everything, Heer," he said, his voice rough. "You've trusted me when no one else would. And I... I don't know how to make it right."
I stepped closer, taking his hand in mine. "You don't have to make everything right. We just have to make it through. Together."
For a moment, I thought he might say something else, but instead, he just held me, his arms wrapping around me like I was the only thing keeping him grounded. And in that moment, I realized something I hadn't fully understood before: Carlos was broken. He didn't just need me as his wife—he needed me as a person, as someone who could hold him up when everything around him was falling apart.
Carlos
Heer's words were a balm to my soul, but they also made everything hurt more. I had spent so long building this life, this empire, that I had never stopped to think about what it was costing me. I had lost so much—my family, my innocence, my ability to trust. But in Heer, I saw a glimmer of hope, a chance to fix the pieces of myself I had long since abandoned.
I had survived this attack, but the war was far from over. There were still enemies in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike again. And every move I made could be my last. But now, with Heer by my side, I felt like I could face whatever came next.
"Thank you," I whispered into her hair. "Thank you for not giving up on me."
"I'll never give up on you, Carlos," she said, her voice steady. "I'm not afraid of the dark anymore. Not when I have you."
The words were simple, but they meant everything. In the chaos of this life, in the endless war we were waging, we had found something worth fighting for. And for the first time, I believed we could win.
Heer
It wasn't the end, not by a long shot. The battle had been won, but the war was far from over. We had survived the first wave, but I could feel the weight of what was to come pressing down on us. The enemies were still out there, and Carlos was still the target. But now, we weren't alone. We had each other.
And that was enough.
Carlos
The fall of a king wasn't a sudden thing. It was a slow, painful process, a series of small betrayals and broken promises that chipped away at everything you had built. But I wasn't ready to fall. Not yet. Not while Heer was by my side.
I had lost a lot in this life. But with her, I had everything worth fighting for.